1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,743 discloses a terminal fitting with a rectangular tube that has a front opening into which a tab is insertable. A resilient contact is provided in the rectangular tube for contacting the tab. The resilient contact is long and narrow along forward and backward directions, and has an arcuate bend that extends continuously form the front end of a bottom plate of the rectangular tube. The resilient contact also has an extending portion that extends back from the bend, and is resiliently deformable with the bend as a support.
A base portion narrower than the bottom plate is formed is formed in some terminal fittings of this type by cutting the left and right edges of a front end of the bottom plate. The bend of the resilient contact is continuous with the front end of the base portion and is easier to deform in view of the narrow dimension. A stress acting when the bent is resiliently deformed is dispersed to the base portion to alleviate stress concentration on the bend.
The left and right edges of the bottom plate are cut to form the narrow base portion of the above-described terminal fitting. However, the cuts create openings between the left and right edges of the base portion and the side plates of the rectangular tube. These openings communicate with the inside of the rectangular tube. The width of the base portion conventionally has been equal to the width of the bend. Thus, areas of openings between the base portion and the side plates become larger as the width of the resilient contact piece increases as against that of the rectangular tube, thereby increasing a possibility of the intrusion of external matter into the rectangular tube through these openings.
Further, the base portion is exposed at the outer surface of the rectangular tube. Thus, there is a possibility that external matter may contact the base portion. As the resilient contact becomes narrower, the width of the base portion becomes smaller to reduce the rigidity of the base portion. Therefore, there is also a possibility that the base portion will be deformed by external matter.
The invention was developed in view of the above problems, and objects of the invention are to prevent the intrusion of an external matter into a tube of a terminal fitting and to prevent deformation of a base portion by interference with external matter even if the resilient contact is narrow.